One Aggregator to Rule them All (and Other PR Blog Jots)

My Kingdom for an Aggregator
Brand Flakes for Breakfast
To me, this has always been one of the biggest kinks in the armor of social media—what if you just don’t have enough time to belong to 38 social networks and keep them all constantly updated? What if you don’t feel like Digging everything you tag in del.icio.us? Isn’t it all sometimes just a bit much? Darryl Ohrt examines the possibility of One Aggregator to manage everything, and streamline the process. I for one can’t wait for a good one to come along, and perhaps make my networking efforts just a little less daunting in the morning. “Aggregation will be a part of the solution, but I fear that it's going to be necessary to limit the amount of content we consume, too. I've sadly nearly eliminated books from my life. No time. Replaced by RSS and other media. Aggregation can allow us to consume more, faster - but there's still a limit to the amount of media that a human can ingest.”

Can you Digg It?
Twist Image
Digg has become a powerful force in media and marketing, and Mitch Joel isn’t sure that’s such a good development. He worries that by allowing the consumer to take on the role of editor, deciding which news is the most important, marketers may overlook the consumers that prefer to get their news the old-fashioned way. Mitch worries that by appointing the consumers as the editorial board, we overlook the professionals who are far more experienced in culling what’s important from the myriad newsworthy events around the globe each day. “Marketers needs to embrace the people who like to submit and vote on news as much as those who like to be informed by items that have a strong editorial vetting process. There are those that are very engaged, and there are those who want someone to engage them. Marketers need to appeal to both types of consumers... understanding that they are very different beasts.”

Get Ready for PodCamp
Chris Brogan
PodCamp Boston 2 is on the horizon, a scant three days away. Are you prepared? Some people find social networking situations rather difficult, particularly if they are not a naturally outgoing or gregarious person who feels at ease surrounded by 1,200 Internet geeks (1,200! Can you believe it? I can’t wait.). In preparation for the kickoff, Chris Brogan lists out some advice on how best to get through the weekend without descending into a social anxiety attack, and it’s advice everyone should read, even those of us who aren’t exactly shy. After all, it never hurts to brush up on your networking techniques in an age when real life relationships have become essential to business. Perhaps you can put Chris’ advice to the test at the Social Media Breakfast 3 taking place at PodCamp on Saturday. “FOR PEOPLE AFRAID AND SHY: It’s okay to use “life raft” friends to move and meet new folks. But at PodCamp, we LOVE people, and you have permission to pretend to be un-shy in small doses.”

Humanity Helps PR?
The Buzz Bin
The CustomScoop blog covered this issue last week as well, but I think Michele Capots has an interesting take: Zappos, an online shoe store, sent flowers to a customer upon learning of her mother’s death. Some major blogs have been buzzing with the good word-of-mouth the action earned Zappos, including Seth Godin and Consumerist. (The tale reminds me a bit of the inadvertent PR that Valeria Maltoni is reporting about Silly String, which is being used by soldiers in Iraq to hunt for hidden bomb trip wires. The company didn’t plan it, but they’re getting some accidental PR and business boost.) Michele argues that while Zappos’ move was probably a combination of humanity and PR, shouldn’t humanity always be in PR? If companies were smart, they would include deeply personal touches in all their marketing efforts. “As a result of their actions, and the customer placing her story on the blog, this is the best type of pr. It’s the kind of stuff that people will remember them for, and when it comes to pr, that’s what you want.”